Hence, orange peel is one of the spices in the new beer, which is in a fermentation tank right now and should be kegged at the first of next month for distribution expected by mid-November. Other spices brewed with the Vienna, Munich and chocolate malts are fresh ginger, nutmeg, cocoa nibs, cardamom, allspice and cinnamon.

Warner cites, in addition to “Grandma’s kitchen,” Anchor’s annual Christmas Ale as an inspiration. And like that beer, he says, the brewery will probably tweak the recipe from year to year.

The first one was fun to brew, Warner says. Instructive, too.

“I’ve never brewed this kind of beer before,” he says. “I literally went online and saw what homebrewers were doing.”

As for year-round beers, Karbach added its Rodeo Clown imperial IPA to the Houston market this week. Next up, an as-yet-unnamed imperial porter that was brewed on Thursday and will go on sale once the holiday beer is gone, probably around mid-December.

That will bring the regular lineup to five, as Rodeo Clown and the porter join Hopadillo IPA, Weisse Versa Wheat Ale and the stellar Sympathy for the Lager, below, in this elegant photo by my colleague Johnny Hanson.

I’ll have more to say on this lager inside Thursday’s Chronicle Sports section. Look for the story on the Man Page.

4 Responses

I have had a hard time this year getting into the Fall/Winter seasonal brew mood with exception of Pumpkinator, but the sound of this one has me livened up. I like the idea of “tweaking” each year. Glad to have Karbach in Houston!